Hey, fellow runner. It is likely that you have arrived here because you want to generate (or perfect) a running plan that is perfect for you.
Most likely, you are aware that training for running involves more than just putting in mileage. If you want to become faster, stronger, and more enduring, you will have to go beyond just jogging on a regular basis.
It is imperative to stay consistent, but building a comprehensive history of running performance also entails changing up your routine; not a single workout will be of help in developing all parts of your running performance. (Just thinking about that feels exhaustingly ambitious.)
There are a variety of exercises available, so it’s important you know what each one gives you and how you can use it to achieve your running ambitions. This blog is specifically created to assist with that, so let’s get started!
Types of Running Workouts
1. Fartlek Runs
Let’s initiate with one of the more comical sounding types of running exercises — the fartlek.
The term is Swedish for “speed play”, which simply means experimenting with different speed workouts.
Fartleks are a type of speed training that blend together quick and slow intervals but there are no defined distances or intensities for each interval, making it highly flexible.
Fartleks offer a way of strengthening one’s aerobic stamina without requiring one to stick to exact timetables or speed.
It is totally acceptable to be organized in your workouts, however, many runners could benefit from eliminating any excess pressure of achieving a certain goal in a certain amount of time or distance. You can concentrate entirely on increasing your aerobic fitness and performance without being disturbed.
Since there isn’t really a set method on how to run a fartlek, you might be uncertain on how to get started… so here are a handful of examples that you could use as inspiration:
- Choose a running route and use your surroundings as markers for when to switch your pace (i.e., sprint to a stop sign, run an easy pace until a fire hydrant, then sprint again to the next tree, etc.). Using landmarks is technically the traditional way of running a fartlek!
- Alternate between hard and easy paces every couple of minutes (i.e., two minutes of sprinting, four minutes of easy running, three minutes of sprinting, etc.). Don’t fret about sticking to the minutes by the letter, but use them more as a general guide.
- Choose an overall time or distance and determine how many intervals you want to achieve throughout your run (i.e., over the course of 5 miles, run 8 recovery intervals). These can be as sporadic as you’d like!
This certainly doesn’t include every possible way to go about fartlek training, but it should give you a good understanding of the many possibilities.
The majority of the time, they provide the greatest benefit during the first phases of instruction, where you are more centered on constructing a base of aerobic capability.
Rather than using them as quick speed workouts, you could use them as more moderate pace exercises to accompany tempo or threshold runs later on in your training program.
For those days when sticking to a strict training pattern isn’t desirable, doing a fartlek from time to time is a great way to mix things up – figuratively speaking!
2. Interval Runs
Now let us go over the interval run: the quickest run of all. Interval runs are similar to fartleks, but they have more structure and require more effort to complete.
Engaging in hard running that is both fast and intense provides your body with a chance to train its anaerobic system, which provides energy to your muscles at a time when your aerobic system can’t supply adequate oxygen. However, sustaining that kind of speed over a long period of time can be too taxing.
Interval training involves running very hard for a short period of time, rather than jogging or running at a steady pace. Running a designated distance at a certain speed while doing a set quantity of repetitions with short breaks in between each one is what is typically referred to as intervals.
Repeatedly engaging in short bursts of strenuous running will enhance your endurance to exhaustion and agony, resulting in more competent running and the ability to move more quickly and manage high levels of intensity.
The distance for your interval runs may differ depending on your desired outcomes and current running ability, yet the overall plan should stay constant. Here’s a generic example for what your interval runs may look like:
Running at a fast pace for 30 seconds.
Go for a jog or stroll at a slower speed for two minutes.
Running at a fast pace for another 30 seconds.
Doing the same thing over and over again a certain number of times.
It’s true that these figures are temporary and to decide the exact periods, sizes, or how often for breaks needs more expertise and accuracy.
It is generally suggested to spend approximately 8% of your running hours on interval training. Consulting a coach or running expert is a great way to decide what your pacing and distance should be.
3. Tempo Runs
Tempo runs provide an ideal balance when training; they fall between hard runs and light jogs, so you can practice at a balanced speed.
An OK intensity could be described as moderately difficult or somewhat difficult, as many specialists would describe it as comfortably difficult. It is a precise speed to get and keep up, however it is for an excellent purpose: it is altogether to support lactate threshold preparation.
If you don’t know what your lactate threshold is, here’s a summary: when doing physical activity, your body generates a product referred to as lactate.
This serves as an added form of power to aid your muscles when your body is unable to provide oxygen rapidly enough (just as with your anaerobic system).
The drawback is that our bodies have the capability to generate more lactate than is able to be used, causing an accumulation that can impair the muscles’ capacity to contract and result in tiredness or burning sensations in the body.
But, there’s good news! Tempo runs are planned out to help get rid of any extra lactic acid in your bloodstream. These runs force you to move quickly in a way that your body is producing and using lactic acid at a stable rate, so your lactic acid levels stay even the entire time you are running.
Discovering the speed of your running cadence can be a challenging endeavor, since you should be striving to exert more energy than with an easy jog, but it still needs to remain at a level where you can keep it going for a substantially long period.
A suggestion from Jack Daniels is for your pace to be around 85-90 percent of the effort you usually put into running.
It is the most challenging aspect of it because everyone’s speed is distinct, which makes it tricky to accurately identify an individual’s speed without more detailed coaching. But, that hasn’t stopped people from finding some close (but imperfect) methods for measuring their ideal, estimated tempo pace:
- The fastest pace you can sustain for a 10 mile run
- The fastest pace you can sustain for a 10k run
- The fastest pace you can sustain for 20-60 minutes (20 for beginners, 60 for advanced runners)
Once more, none of these strategies are 100% accurate, yet they will give you a solid calculation for which speed will enable you to go as fast as achievable for lengthy periods.
The speed of your paces does not need to match an exact amount – it depends on what kind of training you need. The main demand is to maintain a stable, consistent speed without pausing for the predetermined time or distance of the exercise.
4. Base Runs
Base runs are your basic training runs.
Aerobic runs can increase your cardiovascular capacity, raise the durability of your muscles, bones, and supportive tissues to deal with the pressure of running, prepare your aerobic metabolic pathways to make use of fat and carbohydrates for energy, and encourage you to run outside or on an exercise machine to accomplish your target mileage.
A substantial amount of your weekly running total is comprised of base runs, which may not be especially strenuous, but often make up the most frequent runs in your training program.
5. Recovery Runs
A recovery jog is a run of gentle intensity, requiring very little effort, commonly done within one day of a competition or rigorous exercise. Recovery runs help you to regain your strength and get back in shape after doing intense exercise.
The objective is to get your heart rate up and engage your muscles so that you can boost blood flow and aid in mending without putting added stress on your body. You want to run at an easy, conversational pace. This should require a moderate effort on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the greatest amount of effort possible.
You cannot take it too lightly for a recovery run to be beneficial and satisfactory. When in doubt, ease up. If you prefer to exercise with a monitor of your heart rate, make sure that your heart rate when jogging for recovery is kept below 70% of your maximum; the best would be maintaining it between 60-65%.
When doing a recovery run, you should always be going at a pace which allows you to chat and converse while running.
Duration is another essential component of successful recovery runs. The objective of recovery runs is not to push your body, so it is important to make them relatively brief.
Aim to run between 20-40 minutes or a distance of 2-5 miles per week based on your fitness level, level of running, and the race you are planning to compete in.
6. Long Runs
A long run is a type of exercise that involves running at a greater distance than usual with the goal of building cardiovascular power, muscle endurance, mental fortitude and larger aerobic capacity, aiding you to successfully complete a race at the distance you are aiming to achieve.
Jogs of significant distances are usually done with a slow, relaxed pace as the purpose is to boost your aerobic endurance. A lot of trainers in the sport of running suggest attempting to sustain a heartbeat rate of around 70% of your peak heart rate during a long distance run.
A regular running plan generally includes an extended run one time a week, gradually extending the distance most weeks, with some weeks reducing the distance to prevent being overworked.
7. Threshold Workouts
Workouts intended to boost your lactate threshold are created to enhance your ability to remove lactic acid from your muscles faster than it can be made. If you keep going, you will soon become exhausted and your legs will become weary and fatigued.
The lactate threshold typically falls within the range of 83-88% of your VO2 max, so you should be running at the speed corresponding to that percentage, which you would have obtained from your tests. Alternatively, it’d probably be similar to the rate you would be able to maintain while running with maximum effort for an hour.
For most runners, the speed of a threshold run is between the speed at which they would run a 10k and 15k race.
Threshold workouts involve any work done at threshold effort. For instance, start off with a warm-up before jogging 4 sets of 5 minutes at your threshold speed with 2 minutes of a slower speed in between each set. Tempo runs are a specific type of threshold run.
8. Progression Runs
Progressional runs are like base runs, but the aim is to gradually strengthen the speed and energy level throughout the entire run.
You may want to begin a five-mile running sequence progressing at an easy rhythm. For the next mile (2-3), increase your speed to the rate of a half marathon. Miles 3-4 should be jogged at a 10k rate, and the final mile needs to be completed at a 5k pace.
Gradually increasing your speed during training helps your body learn to go faster, even when feeling fatigued. These types of running activities also cultivate both mental robustness and durability.
9. Hill Repeats
Hill repeats are sprints run up a hill. Athletes who are going for a jog can pick either a short, high incline that takes approximately 20-30 seconds to climb or a longer incline which will require around one to multiple minutes to complete. The slope and size of the hill that you should choose is determined by the result you’d like to achieve in your race.
By climbing a steep hill, runners must combat the power of gravity, which makes running up the hill much harder than simply covering the same distance on level ground.
The objective is to utilize an over-exaggerated but correct running technique. Work your glutes and hips when driving, pump your knees high, keep your steps brief and dynamic, tensing your core, and use a vigorous arm swing. The emphasis is to increase speed, so try to ascend each hill as rapidly as you can.
Hill workouts build speed and strength. At times, running instructors even say that hill exercises are just like “subtle strength training” due to the fact that going against resistance necessitates more effort and power from your muscles.
Between each hill sprint, runners will gradually move at a slower pace either jogging or walking (sometimes even backwards) as a form of recovery.
